Mouna Zouein Gorra’s show at 392Rmeil393 seeks to unearth the beauty of what lies under our feet with her aesthetically pleasing painting series “Mineral Vegetal.”
The 25 paintings done in gauche, pastel, oil and water color paint are the result of a yearlong effort, inspired by Gorra’s passion for hiking in Lebanon.
“It’s about the ground,” she said, amused at the simplicity of the series’ concept. “I walk and hike a lot on Sundays in the mountains and I’m fascinated by what I see on the ground - stones, dead leaves, the colors of dead and old things, so I was trying to reproduce what I was seeing.”
The exhibition is Gorra’s first solo show, aided by the gallery which specializes in showcasing emerging talents. She has previously participated in group exhibitions like the 2016 expo SOS Art Liban, which showed the work of 112 Lebanese artists. In her free time, she illustrates books and teaches painting classes at her home.
The works on paper are close-ups of the ground, looking at tree roots, puddles, trampled paths and even the touches humans leave behind in nature - rusting cans. The pieces show a multitude of bright hues contrasting with dark, earthy tones - many which naturally occur due to the various stages of decay of vegetation or minerals found in the soil.
“When you walk under pine trees the earth is full of iron and the colors of the stones there are really incredible,” Gorra said, referring to a small gouache work titled “Ombre et Lumiere.”
“You have purple, violet, ochre yellow and there are the remains of the branches and even the shadows are tainted with blue shades.”
Others, such as “Feuilles Mortes Bordeaux,” show a cobalt pool with autumn leaves floating over yellow pebbles, mixing smooth brushstrokes with sharper details overlaid.
Some pieces are studies of different leaves picked up from the trails and rendered in watercolor, almost like scientific diagrams showing the breakdown of chlorophyll - the pigment chemical resulting in the brilliant changing of colors seen in leaves every autumn.
The depicted scenes are from various regions of Lebanon, as Gorra has hiked several locations, including Baskinta, Wadi Qadisha, Jabal Moussa and Nahr Ibrahim. As she walks, she takes photographs to use for her artwork later on, many of which she posts on her Facebook page for fans to see, before using them to create her works of art.
“I’m inspired by the photos but I don’t copy them exactly,” she said. “I add things and change some colors. I would love to take my easel out some time but usually I’m busy with the hiking and following the guide.”
Gorra’s future endeavors will include more hiking and artistic explorations of the ground, as nature is often a limitless source of creative compositions.
Mineral Vegetal is up at 392Rmeil393, Gemmayzeh, until Jan. 20, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
